UT’s computer science program is one of the best in the country, according to national rankings. But, with great prestige comes great stress, students say, especially when it comes to navigating the job market.

Most university students get some sort of internship during their academic career; a national survey found 60% of students in each graduating class had an internship during their time in college. Computer science freshman Farhan Ahsan said there is a competitive atmosphere when finding an internship in his field. 

“While you’re in college, you aren’t really encouraged to work together when you’re in class, even though in the real world, programming is a very collaborative task,” Ahsan said. “I feel like that mindset kind of carries over to (internship opportunities) as well, where everyone’s gatekeeping the opportunities that they’re finding in order to make sure that their fellow competitors, or peers, don’t find out about them.”

Computer science freshman Lukas Zenick said from the very beginning of their University careers, computer science students are trained to find internships, which further speaks to the immense pressure of the experience.

“It’s an extremely competitive environment to find internships,” Zenick said. “Everyone’s really friendly, but suddenly competing against each other to get an internship at the best company of the summer.”

To work in the computer science industry, at least in a full-time capacity, many companies ask applicants to have at least three years experience under their belt to even be considered, computer science sophomore Divya Nitin said. 

“I would say that I definitely feel anxious about finding an internship and a job because, especially in computer science, experience is so important … that’s why internships are so helpful for that,” Nitin said.

Computer science is a part of the College of Natural Sciences, and therefore is under the jurisdiction of the career advisors for the entire school. Computer science senior Michelle Sanchez expressed her disappointment with the quality of assistance provided by Career Services at the college.

“I will say that career advisors are a little disconnected from the struggles that computer science students feel,” Sanchez said. “I, myself, have gone to Career Services quite a bit and haven’t had the most satisfactory experiences because computer science is its own field with its own norms, with its own deadlines (and) with its own expectations.”

College of Natural Sciences Career Services did not respond to requests for comment.

Computer science junior Thomas Moore said getting these coveted internships also requires students to go above and beyond what they’re expected to know given where they’re at in their degree.

“The industry as a whole really rewards you (by) knowing more,” Moore said. “There is a pressure to know more than you’re required to by the degree in terms of instruction, especially because the division between what you study in school is very different than what you’re actually going to be doing on the job.”

The computer science department has a set of guidelines for companies looking to recruit students from UT, and there seems to be no consequences for companies that break those guidelines, according to Sanchez. However, students who break guidelines are apparently subject to punishments. One example of a computer science internship guideline for students, Sanchez said, is reneging on an offer — which means if a student accepts an internship offer, they can’t go back on it.

“There are very harsh penalties, to the point where you can get banned from Career Services, you can be sent to disciplinary services with the dean, you can be banned from attending future networking events,” Sanchez said. “I think it’s very ridiculous.”